The Childcare Offer funds nursery education and childcare for 3 to 4-year olds, before they start full-time education. It is made up of:
Nursery Education
12.5 hours per week in a school nursery.*
You need to apply through the School Admissions Team for your school nursery place.
For more information and your application, please click here to be redirected to: Nursery Admissions
*Also available at St Donat’s Nursery School and Swallow Playgroup. Contact the settings directly to apply.
Childcare Funding
17.5 hours per week of funding at a registered childcare provider in term time.
Up to 30 hours per week of funding at a childcare provider in the school holidays, for three weeks per term (9 holiday weeks in total per year)
A total of 48 weeks of childcare funding per year. You will need to fund any additional childcare that you need.
Eligible parents can still use the childcare funding if they choose not to take up the 12.5 hours of nursery education. However, childcare hours funded through the Childcare Offer do not increase if a parent does not use their nursery education entitlement.
The Childcare Offer and Starting Nursery Education
This video explains the difference between Childcare Offer funding and starting nursery education in the Vale of Glamorgan:
Childcare Funding Eligibility Criteria
You can apply for the childcare funding if:
- You live in Wales;
- Your child is 3 to 4 years old. Please go to the table below for eligibility dates;
- You are a student in Higher or Further Education enrolled on a course that is 10 weeks long or more
OR
- You are employed or self-employed and you earn at least:
- £152 per week if you are 23 years old or older
- £146.88 per week if you are 21-22 years old
- £109.28 per week if you are 18-20 years old
(these rates are based on 16 hrs per week at the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage for April 2022-March 2023 and will change annually)
- You earn less than £100, 000 gross, per year, per parent. If either parent earns over £100,000 gross, per year, you will be ineligible for the Childcare Offer.
You will need to upload the following supporting documents to your application:
- Your child’s birth certificate;
- Evidence of your address, e.g. your most recent Council tax letter;
- Your most recent 3 months of payslips if you are employed;
- Your most recent self-assessment tax return if you are self-employed;
- An enrolment letter/confirmation of a place in Further or Higher education.
You will need to upload eligibility evidence for both parents if you are a two-parent family.
Please note:
- The term ‘parent’ refers to parents, legal guardians, step-parents, adoptive parents, foster carers, guardians, kinship carers, carers with a Special Guardianship Order and long-term live-in partners who live within the same household as the child.
- Parents currently on maternity/paternity/parental/adoption leave can apply for the Childcare Offer if they meet the above eligibility criteria.
- In a single-parent family, the above eligibility criteria apply to the sole parent.
- In a two-parent family the above eligibility criteria apply to both parents.
- Parents can access Tax-Free Childcare, Tax Credits or Universal Credit at the same time as the Offer, for any additional hours of childcare they pay for in respect of their child or for other children in the family. Visit the Childcare Choices website for further information.
- Eligibility cannot be confirmed until a fully completed application form has been received and processed by the Childcare Offer team and you have received a confirmation email.
Exceptions to the Eligibility Criteria:
- Families where both parents are in receipt of the above benefits (or has an underlying entitlement to the above benefits), or the sole parent in a single parent family, will not be able to access the Childcare Offer.
- Where parents have separated but do not share equal custody of the child, the parent with primary custody will be eligible to take up the Offer (if they meet the eligibility criteria).
- Where parents share equal custody one parent will need to be nominated as the lead parent for the Offer.
- Parents who are in education or training and have formally suspended their studies due to long term sickness could still be eligible for the Childcare Offer.
- Parents who are employed/self-employed but who are temporarily away from the workplace on statutory sick leave could still be eligible for the Childcare Offer.